Candace Cane and the Missing Candy Land King
by S. A. Arkenburgh
Summary: Full Title: CANDACE CANE AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING CANDY LAND KING Candy Cane and P.B. Reese can't finish their game if a key character is missing... *Also published on FictionPress on my account*


**Candace Cane and the Case of the Missing Candy Land King**

It didn't take long to realize that the rain was inevitable and was going to prevent their play from going outside, so it was then that Preston Bernard Reese, P.B. to his friends, and Candace Cane began looking in his closet for a game to occupy their minds until the cold liquid lightened up.

"Candy?" he asked. "Do you want to play a board game?"

"Okay P.B.," she smiled.

They ran as fast as their feet could carry them into the living room for the game cupboard.

Their first pick: _Battleship_.

"E8," P.B. said and Candy slammed the lid to her part of the game.

"Hit and sunk," she replied with a grumpy face. "You win...again."

P.B. laughed.

"Let's get a new game," Candy said as she closed P.B.'s game piece and picked it up.

"Okay," P.B. ran back over to the cupboard while Candy put the game away in its respectful place.

"What about "_Monopoly_"?" he asked as he stared at the board, wondering if he pronounced it correctly.

"Doesn't the game say "ten and up"?" she asked. "You know we have three years before being allowed to play that game and neither of us can count money with big numbers."

It was true: their age of seven restricted playing access. Well that and they couldn't count money. They were the two worst counters in their second grade class.

"Okay," he mumbled as he looked at another game. "_Chutes and Ladders_?"

"Eh," Candy contemplated. "Nah."

Finally, his little hand rested on a game that everybody loves.

_Candy Land_!

"What about this one-?" was all he could get out before she screamed "yes" over and over.

"It has my name in it," she said with pride.

"Let's play," P.B. laughed.

"I want the red player!" Candy said.

"I don't like the players on this game," he replied. "There isn't a black one."

P.B. was always teased at school for his dark color. He was the only black kid in his class. Candy was his only friend, and he was hers. The two were stuck like glue, and Candy constantly got into trouble for punching and pushing the other kids when they'd make fun of P.B. for his color.

"Well," she said while frowning, "if it makes you feel better: there isn't a white one, either."

"True," he laughed. "I'll be green."

It wasn't long until the two were laughing and making joyful noises as their oddly colored players made their way through the Candy Cane Forest and the Chocolate Swamp.

P.B. was winning, and when he got to the last color on the board, he noticed something.

"Candy!" he exclaimed. "The King is _gone_!"

Candy, who was still in the Candy Cane Forest, looked up to the top of the board to see a white rough spot where the King would be as he welcomed the winning player to his palace.

"You're right," she said. "He _is_ gone!"

"What do we do?" P.B. asked. "We can't win the game and go into the castle if the King isn't there to let us in. The Queen doesn't have the key!"

"Exactly," Candy said as she stood up and poked her finger in the air as if saying something important. "If the King isn't here, or in Candy Land, we need to find him. Don't worry, P.B. - Detective Candace Cane is on the case."

She ran into the playroom quickly and came out just as fast with a detective hat on and a magnifying glass.

"Wait," P.B. said. "I want to help."

He got up and ran into the playroom and came out with a fake mustache on, all while donning a little black trench coat.

"Detective P.B. Reese is on the case, too," he laughed. Candy smiled at him.

"Okay," she started. "If you were a really small king, where would you go?"

"Umm," P.B. thought. "I think I'd go to the kitchen for ice cream."

"Right!" Candy exclaimed. "Off to the kitchen. Be very quiet - we don't want people knowing we're detectives."

"Yes," P.B. whispered.

With that, they made their way to the kitchen, hiding behind chairs and cabinet doors until they slyly made their way to the fridge. Candy quickly pulled a chair from the table, and P.B. jumped up on it to open the freezer door.

"What do you see?" Candy asked in a whisper. She was being the lookout from the ground.

"Well," P.B. stated, "he's not in here. Would you believe that we don't even have ice cream?"

They both laughed and put everything back the way it was. When they were back at the game board, they devised another plan.

"Kings need baths, right?" Candy asked herself.

P.B. heard her and they began running towards the bathroom.

Once in there, they looked in the bathtub, cupboards, behind the toilet, and even _in_ the toilet.

"Maybe Candy Land Kings don't like baths?" he suggested.

"Maybe," Candy agreed.

They exited the bathroom and went "back to the drawing board".

"What if he got tired of his castle and moved to a new one?" Candy said.

"Well where would he find another castle?" P.B. asked.

It took a few minutes to sink in, but at the same time they looked each other and their faces beamed.

"Penny!" they both screamed and started running up the stairs to P.B's sister's room.

Penny was five, and she had a lot of toys. One of those toys was a castle for her dolls.

"Penny, Penny!" they both screamed as they ran down the hall to her room.

"Penny, have you seen the King?" Candy asked as they stood in her room.

Penny's hair was tied up - one ball of hair on each side of her head. Her outfits were pink, and that dollhouse castle was her prized possession.

Penny's room was a mess. Worse - it looked like Hurricane Katrina hit twice.

Though her room was a mess, Penny had a little spot cleared in front of the castle so she could sit there and play with her dolls. Candy didn't think Penny knew what she did and didn't own in that room.

"Why, yes," Penny said. "The King and Barbie were just finishing their afternoon visit over tea. He says he wants to get home now, anyway."

Sure enough, when Candy and P.B. went over to the castle, there was the torn paper off of the game with the King on it, smiling at a Barbie who was sitting in the chair opposite him.

"Well, we can fly him home," P.B. offered.

"Okay," Penny laughed as she un-taped the paper from the doll chair and handed it to her big brother.

There was no argument, and the two seven-year-olds ran out of the room and down the stairs to the game, where they taped the King back on in his rightful spot on the board.

"There," P.B. said. "Now I can officially say that _I win_!"

Candy grimaced, and then laughed with him.

"Candace!" P.B.'s mother called from another room, disrupting the two's laughter. "Your mother is here!"

When that was said, Candy's mother came through the doorway.

"Come on, my sweet little Candy Cane," the woman said. "We need to get home."

"Okay," Candy said in a depressing tone.

Candy went and got her stuff. Her shoes were on, her coat was fitted around her body, and her grimace was set.

"Don't worry, Candy," P.B. started. "You'll be back tomorrow. Maybe the rain will have stopped by then."

Just as the last syllable was out of his mouth, they looked over to the window just in time to see the rain stop and the sun come out.

The two kids laughed so hard they cried.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Detective Reese," Candy smiled.

"Shh," he said. "You said that people weren't supposed to know that we were detectives."

They laughed again and said their goodbyes.

Candy had gone to bed smiling, in hopes that a bright and sunny day would meet her tomorrow.


End file.
